Adviser — Internal Controls During Turnaround

Control expertise for a business under pressure

Candidates should have internal-control, finance or assurance experience in stressed operating businesses. They need enough restructuring knowledge to understand why normal processes are under strain and enough independence to challenge inappropriate exceptions. Evidence of implementing effective controls with limited resources is particularly relevant.

Trace exposure through real decisions

Review payment authorisation, supplier changes, cash forecasting, unusual journals and commitments outside normal budgets. Identify controls that depend on absent personnel or informal knowledge. Examine whether emergency exceptions are visible, justified and reviewed rather than becoming an undocumented operating model.

Trace a high-pressure purchase or payment from request to approval and settlement. Determine whether the approver had independent information and understood the consequence of acting or delaying. A second signature adds little value if both signatories rely on the same unverified explanation.

The adviser should consider workload and available capability. A theoretically strong control that is routinely bypassed may need redesign, not another reminder to comply. Recommendations must identify residual exposure honestly.

Advice, delivery evidence and authority

Recommend a prioritised set of controls that the current team can sustain. Clarify approval authority and the evidence needed for significant decisions. Define how exceptions are recorded and when recurring departures require management or board attention.

Provide a focused risk assessment, a practical control plan and a method for verifying sustained operation. Management retains responsibility for controls and individual approvals. The adviser does not issue an implied audit opinion or become the default approver for difficult transactions.

The result should be more reliable decisions and records during recovery, with an explicit path from temporary safeguards to the permanent control environment.